Book-holder and clamp



(No Model.)

A. OOLTON.

BOOK HOLDER AND CLAMP.

No. 599,282. Patented Feb. 15, 1898.

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ARTHUR COLTON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

BOOK-HOLDER AND CLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,282, dated February 15, 1898. Application filed April21,189'7. Serial No. 638,089. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR COLTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of- Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Book-Holders and Clamps, of which the following is a specification, referenoe being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention consists in the construction of a book shaper and holder designed for pushing the book into shape for use in an indeX- ing-machine, with a clamp for holding it when thus shaped while it is being operated upon by the cutters and printing devices of the indeXing-machine.

The invention further consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts, all as more fully hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central section through my machine, showing the book as being shaped in the holder. Fig. 2 is a detached perspective of the clamp or bookholder. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

In the use of indexing-machines it has been customary to shape the book directly on the machine. I find that it is a decided advantage to shape the book ready to be operated upon separate from the machine while being held in and adapted to be carried by a clamp, which clamp or book-holder may then be inserted and guided through the machine for the various operationsupon the book.

A is a base-plate having at one end the inclined abutments B.

The book-holder consists of a base-plate O and a corresponding back-plate D, this back plate being inclined substantially the same as the plate B on the base A. The base 0 carries, preferably formed integral therewith, the end plates or standards E, between which the book F is adapted to be placed with its back against the plate D. hen thus placed, the book-holder is placed upon the base A, as shown in Fig. 1, with the forward edge of the base engaged in the guideway or guide-slot G at the bottom of the inclined plate B. The back is then clamped between the plates B and D by any suitable means--such, for instance, as driving a wedge H between the shoulder I and the rear edge of the base 0, which shapes the back, with its front edge on an incline corresponding to the incline of the inner edge of the plate B. In this position it can be clamped in the book-holder by any suitable clamping device. That which I have shown consists of the clamping-plate J,adapted to rest upon the top of the book, and the cams K on a transverse shaft L, journaled at its ends in bearings M in the upper part of the standards E. This shaft has a central squared portion with which a suitable bearing in the lever 0 may be engaged to force the cams down upon the plate J and thus clamp the book in its shaped position. The wedge II may now be removed and the book-holder, with the book clamped tightly therein, may be delivered to the machine, where the gouges for cutting out the thumbplaces and the printing mechanism, if clesired, may operate upon it. This greatly facilitates the operation of the machine, for by the use of a number of these clamps while the machine is operating upon one book another may be gotten ready to be fed to the machine, and thus the machine may be continuously in use in indexing.

IVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination of a book-shaping device, comprising a base and an inclined abutment, of a book-holder adapted to force the edge of the book against the abutment to shape it for operation in an indexing-machine, and a clamp for holding the book in its shaped position in the book-holder.

2. The combination of a base-plate having the inclined abutment B at one end, of a bookholder, comprising a base-plate and a corresponding inclined back-plate, of side plates or standards on the book-holder, means for clamping the book between the two inclined plates, cams supported in the standards above the book and a clamping-plate on the book upon which the cams are adapted to bear.

3. The combination of a base-plate A having the inclined abutments B and a guideway G at the base thereof, of the book-holder and clamp, substantially as described, having the base 0 adapted to engage with its forward edge in said guide, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR COLTON.

IVitnesses M. B. ODooHEnrY, Orro F. BARTHEL. 

